Sumatera Barat

▪ province, Indonesia

English  West Sumatra 

      provinsi (province), west central Sumatra, Indonesia, fronting the Indian Ocean to the west and bounded by the provinces of Sumatera Utara (North Sumatra) on the north, Riau on the northeast, Jambi on the southeast, and Bengkulu on the south. It includes the islands of Siberut, Pagai Utara, and Pagai Selatar and the Sipura islands, all in the Mentawai group, located in the Indian Ocean across the Mentawai Strait from central Sumatra.

      Western Sumatra, long inhabited by Minangkabau peoples, was settled by Indian immigrants beginning in the 2nd century AD and subsequently became part of the Buddhist Śrivijaya empire that flourished in southern Sumatra beginning in the 7th century. With the decline of Śrivijaya in the 14th century, the Hindu-Malay kingdom of Minangkabau was established, with Pariangang as its capital. The Minangkabau king converted to Islam in the 16th century. The Dutch entered the region in 1596 and began to establish a firm foothold in western Sumatra. In the early 19th century, control of the island passed temporarily to the British. The Dutch managed to reestablish themselves in the area after intervening on behalf of the Minangkabau royal family during the civil war known as the Padri War (1821–38). Dutch rule was then imposed throughout Minangkabau (roughly coextensive with what is now West Sumatra province).

      The Japanese occupied Sumatra during World War II. After the war, Indonesian nationalists declared the formation of the Republic of Indonesia, and after a period of intense anticolonial struggle, Sumatera Barat, together with the rest of Sumatra, was incorporated into the Republic of Indonesia in 1950. The province was a seat of rebellion against the Sukarno government in early 1958, and the Revolutionary Government of the Indonesian Republic was formed in Sumatera Barat with its headquarters at Bukittingi. The rebellion was crushed by Indonesian forces in mid-1958 after aerial attacks on Padang and Bukittingi.

      The Barisan Mountains run northwest-southeast; they are flanked by lowlands on the southern half and by swamps on the northern half of the western coast. The Padang (Padang Highlands) (Minangkabau) highlands on the eastern side of the mountains extend almost to the eastern boundary of the province. The mountain system consists of several parallel ridges surmounted by numerous active and extinct volcanoes, including Mounts Talang (8,516 feet [2,597 metres]), Merapi (9,482 feet), and Singgalang (9,449 feet). Freshwater swamp forests are found at many places along the coast. The lowland rain forests of pine, teak, and mahogany extend to the hilly upland region. The mainstay of the economy is agriculture producing rice, corn (maize), cassava, tea, coffee, rubber, pepper, tobacco, coconuts, and soybeans. Industries process foods and make cement, beverages, textiles, rubber goods, chemicals, and transport equipment. Roads run the length of the province, and railway lines cross the central part. Padang is the provinical capital. Minangkabau, Gayo-Ala, and Batak peoples are represented in the population, as are a small number of South Asians and Chinese. Area 16,563 square miles (42,899 square km). Pop. (2000) 4,248,931.

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